


Into the sea, you and me

by featherfingers



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: (can't believe this wasn't a tag yet), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Catra is whipped, F/F, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Road Trips, catradora is canon party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24513424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/featherfingers/pseuds/featherfingers
Summary: Catra and Adora go on a road trip while trying to hide how they truly feel for each other. Turns out they're not so good at hiding it.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 308





	Into the sea, you and me

"You're being a sore loser, Adora."

Catra couldn’t stop herself from getting caught in the thrill of teasing Adora – not when she always managed to get reactions out of her.

Adora's face comes alive with an alluring kind of flame when she is determined or riled up. Her burning blue eyes are scorching Catra while the wind blowing from the car's windows makes strands of blonde hair get loose from the ponytail and fly to her face. 

Catra ached at the sight of her, like someone who stared too hard at the sun.

"You are the one who is cheating," Adora counters. "Guys, tell her this is not how you're supposed to play the game."

From the front seat, Glimmer and Bow groan in unison. 

Glimmer pushes her sunglasses up and sends them a quick look through the river mirror as she drives.

"I don't know how you two managed to turn _Scrabble_ in a competition," she protests.

"I wish I hadn't suggested playing road trip games,” Bow mentions remorsefully.

Catra lets out a self-satisfied laugh. 

To be honest, she was slightly reluctant to come on the trip at first. Going to the ocean wasn't exactly her idea of fun, considering she never was fond of huge amounts of water. Spending five hours in a car wasn't all that appealing, either. But Adora asked her to come, with that stupidly soft smile that leaves Catra unarmed – sometimes Catra wonders if that smile is reserved just for her, but she knows it is just wishful thinking.

The trip wasn’t unbearable so far. Well, the first hour was somewhat challenging. Adora, who was never a morning person, chose to spend the beginning of their road trip sleeping – with her head on _Catra's shoulder_. That proximity was at the same time bliss and agony. 

Catra is intending to keep her feelings guarded, hidden where no one will ever be able to read her inconspicuous want. But being around Adora makes this task impossibly hard.

Bow's idea of playing games was Catra's escape. If there was one way she knew how to be safe around Adora was being competitive. Soon enough, she got under Adora’s skin.

"These words don’t exist!" Adora kept complaining. "What 'diput seru oy' even means?"

Giggles are heard from the front and Adora frowns, puzzled by their friends’ reaction. Sometimes Adora can be so oblivious (and Catra definitely makes good use of that). 

"What?" she urges.

"Why don't you try reading it backward?" Bow hints in a gentle tone.

Adora squints at the paper and, after a few minutes, her face morgues in understanding. Before Catra can protect herself, Adora is lurching on her.

She gets Catra in a headlock and tousles her already messy short hair. Having Adora's arms around her neck makes adrenaline flood into Catra's veins, and soon she's reacting, pushing herself off the grip and attempting to hold Adora's wrists. 

They wrestle, falling into their own familiar rhythm of pushing and pulling. Catra knows all of Adora’s weak spots: tickles in her underbelly and inside her calves, a scrap of nails on the side of her neck. (Catra wonders how it would be to kiss her on all those places.) But Adora also knows her weak spots, and recently she gained a lot of muscles to work on her favor. After some time, she manages to have Catra's arms pinned down against the headrest. Adora sits on her thighs, straddling her.

"Gotcha," she beams, triumphant, still gasping from the effort.

Catra's mind malfunctions. 

She tries, but doesn’t find a reply to wipe Adora's shit-eating grin from her face. Her nerve system had surrendered and was at Adora's mercy.

Something moves in Adora's expression, like she realized the change in Catra's endeavor – her look becomes heavier, her grin fades a little. This is probably not a good sign. (But it does feel good.)

Thankfully (or not), Catra's pride was saved by Adora’s uptight friends.

"Seatbelts!" Bow screeches. " _Please_ , put your seatbelts back!"

Adora sends a last indecipherable look at Catra before climbing off her. Catra put her seatbelt back on with her heart still hammering in her ears.

"I'm not sure if we'll survive this trip if you two keep at it," Glimmer remarks.

 _Neither am I_ , thought Catra.

✧

Adora asked Catra if she wanted to join them in the water, even though she knew what the answer would be. Catra had always been afraid of water, ever since they were kids and Catra refused to go with her to the community center’s pool.

Adora didn't force her, avoiding to make her uncomfortable, but she did tease her a little bit, calling her a "scaredy-cat". (At that Catra growled at her, which only proved Adora's point.)

She swam with Glimmer and Bow for a while, but then got a bit too excited with cliff diving and lost them from sight. Her muscles were sore from swimming and her skin was salty from the ocean when she found Catra again, still stretched under a parasol with a red swimsuit and shades on. Adora had managed to drag her out of the house – they were staying in Bow’s dads’ beach house –, but she still refused to go under the sun.

"Watcha doin'?" she sneaks up on her, making Catra jump in surprise and scowl at her.

"Your hair is dripping on me," she complains, pushing Adora's away.

In retaliation, Adora shakes her hair right at Catra's direction, splashing her with the drops that clung to her strands. Catra lets out a yelp and tries to shield herself with her arms.

"Stop that!" 

Adora burst out in laughter. Catra was just too cute sometimes. She almost misses the fond expression of Catra watching – _almost_ , but she doesn’t. Sometimes Adora wonders... but wondering is dangerous and complicated and could lead to unpleasant consequences to their friendship. It was way too hard to get Catra's friendship back, she couldn't afford to lose it again.

They've grown up in the same shabby suburb in the Fright Zone. Two kids from similar broken homes, alone except for having each other. But then, when they were both seventeen, Mara showed up. An older sister Adora didn't even know that she had, promising a new life in Bright Moon. She couldn't say no, but she also didn't want to leave Catra behind. Still, Catra was too stubborn to accept going with her.

For one whole year she refused to talk Adora was discovering herself through the story of her family: how her parents died, when she was still a baby, in an accident, and how she and Mara got separated in the orphanage when Adora was adopted by Hordak. She later found out that meanwhile Catra was going through her own journey of self-discovery, leaving her abusive foster mom's house, who they called "Shadow Weaver" behind her back, and getting a job to maintain herself.

Sometimes people have to grow apart to grow together again. 

When they met again in college, they both still had wounds to recover, but were willing to fix the ties between them.

Now, under the sun and with the sea stretching before them, Adora feels extremely glad to have Catra at her side again.

Adora lies down beside Catra on the beach towel, their exposed skin brushing. Catra scoots to give her space and goes back to scrolling on her phone.

"Scorpia keeps spamming me with pictures of hers and Perfuma's new puppy," she complains half-heartedly. 

"No way, let me see," Adora leans on Catra's shoulder, who recoils a little. _Ouch._

Adora starts to move back, but Catra must have read the hurt in her face. She holds her arm. "You're still wet," she explains. "Dry yourself, stupid."

Despite liking to dry in the sun, Adora gives in and wraps a towel around her shoulders. She stops when she feels hands on her hair. Catra took the towel and is drying her hair. 

Catra's hands are gentle in rubbing the towel against her scalp. After that, she runs her fingers through Adora's damp hair, carefully untangling the knots. Adora closes her eyes, melting under the touch. Catra's touch is so soothing that she feels her bones turning liquid.

Catra’s fingers linger a little on Adora's nape, massaging it gently, before leaving her skin.

Adora opens her eyes and turns to Catra, but she is not looking at her direction.

"Here," she practically shoves the phone at Adora's face.

An adorable golden retriever is on display on the screen. 

"Man, the puppy is just unfairly cute," Adora coos, scrolling through the other pictures Scorpia had sent Catra. In one of them, the dog is licking Perfuma's face while she tries to meditate. "You know, I still can't believe Perfuma convinced you to do meditation with her."

Catra crosses her arms. "My therapist said it could be good for anger management or whatever."

"Hey, I think it's pretty cool," Adora gives her a smile, trying to demonstrate that she is not making fun of her. "If it helps you, that's what matters."

"Yeah, well," Catra stretches her neck abashedly. "Also Perfuma and Scorpia's apartment is kinda nice, so I don't mind hanging out there."

This comment brings a reminder to Adora's mind. She's been planning to talk about it with Catra for some time now, but she never finds the right moment to do it – or the _guts_ to do it.

She guesses now is a good time as any other.

"Since we're in the subject, I've been wondering..."

"Here you are!" a voice cuts her.

She looks up to see Glimmer stomping towards them, her glittery purple bikini sparkling against the sun, with Bow trying to follow her step, struggling to carry four popsicles by himself.

"We've looked for you everywhere!" Glimmer glares at Adora. "For a moment, I thought you had drowned jumping from those rocks."

"Not my fault that you and Bow were too _distracted_ to notice me walking out," Adora retorts with a smirk.

Glimmer and Bow get immediately red-faced.

"I was teaching Glimmer how to dive!" Bow defends himself, but the embarrassment in his voice betrays him.

"Oh, that's how it's called these days?" Catra joins in the teasing. 

Adora laughs with her, but it doesn't last long before it backfires. 

Glimmer points at them suggestively. "And what were you _and Catra_ doing?"

The implication on Glimmer's voice is enough to make her want to hide. She regrets ever telling her friends about how she felt for Catra, she would never hear the end of it.

"So, you got popsicles?" she swiftly redirects the conversation, turning the attention to Bow.

"Yeah and they're freezing my hands already, so please take it."

Adora finishes her slushy in record time, welcoming how refreshing it feels after hours under the scorching sun. Of course, it immediately gives her brain freeze and she gets teased for it. Catra, smartly, eats hers slowly. Adora finds her gaze fixed on the way Catra's mouth curls around the popsicle and she feels hot again.

"So, I thought we could make a bonfire in the backyard tonight," Bow says. "We could have marshmallows, beer and stuff."

"Sounds fun! Catra, you should make those sandwiches of yours," Adora pushes her shoulder against Catra's.

"Why me?" Catra pushes back and stays there, their shoulders touching.

Adora smiles extra sweetly at her. "Because you make the best vegan sandwiches."

Catra rolls her eyes, but Adora already knows that she's got her.

"Fine, I'll make the sandwiches," she caves in. "If you control your huge stomach. _And_ don't get drunk."

"Don't worry, I won’t get drunk."

✧

Adora is drunk.

Buying those fruit vodkas was a key for disaster, Catra should have known not to let Adora and Glimmer go to the supermarket unsupervised. (They bought colorful drinks because they thought it was _cute_.) 

Maybe she was partially at fault, to be honest. After all, she was the one who turned Truth or Dare into a drinking game. 

"Is that a flying unicorn?" Adora gasped, her eyes bulging, pointing at the sky.

"For the hundredth time, it's just an airplane," Glimmer snaps.

"Right, I knew that," Adora answers, giggling, and lies down on Glimmer's lap. "Hi, Glimmer."

Glimmers pushes Adora up and forces her to take another glass of water in the hope she sobers up.

Catra chews on a marshmallow, watching Adora from the opposite side of the circle. The fire casts light in her flushed face and she looks almost ethereally beautiful with her silly drunk smile.

She wishes it was her, not Glimmer, that Adora was leaning to, but she knows that wouldn't be a safe spot, so she tries to swallow the jealousy. It's irrational, anyway, and she knows it. 

She was so jealous of Adora's new friends when she moved to Bright Moon – she felt replaced, left out, forgotten. The thought of Adora laughing with someone else, opening up with someone else, filling Catra’s space in her life with someone else, hunted her. It took her months of therapy and self-reflection to get on terms with it. Adora having other friends, another life, didn't mean she was leaving her behind. She had to remind herself that sometimes, when the doubt came crawling back and old fears surfaced. 

Adora was at her size to anchor when that happens, anyway. (Still, Catra found herself wanting more. She was being greedy. But she fought back that urge to reach for more, for more than Adora was willing to give.)

"Ok, whose turn is now?” Glimmer says.

They were playing Truth or Dare for some time now (despite Catra’s complaints about it being a childish game.)

It started off pretty harmless. Glimmer admitted to stealing Angela’s car keys sometimes, Bow confessed his collection of crop tops is over 30 pieces, and Catra complied to Bow's dare of taking a picture with the cat ears' filter (Adora made it worse by asking Bow to send her the photo and immediately setting it as her lockscreen). 

But things escalated suddenly when it was Catra’s turn and the bottle landed on Adora. She wasn't planning on going wild on the competitive side, but Adora had always a way to awake this side of her. The smirk she sent to Catra's direction was the first straw. The way she said "Dare", taunting, defiantly, was the last. 

From then on, it went downhill.

Catra got merciless in the dares, but Adora didn't stay behind, using the childhood-friend-knowledge privilege to provoke Catra. Bow and Glimmer were also all in the game, the latter being almost as witty as Catra. When drinking dares got involved, it was just a matter of time until they were all a bit too giggly. Catra herself is feeling a little tipsy, just the right amount to feel light-headed. But there was one fact they failed to consider beforehand: Adora’s low alcohol tolerance.

“Mine!” Adora spins the bottle with a flourish.

When the bottle lands on her, Catra feels the irresponsible need to feed Adora’s competitive flame.

"Hey, Adora," she smirks languidly. "Can you come up with a _proper_ dare this time?"

Her teasing is visibly effective if the way Adora glares at her is anything to go by.

Adora’s face fixes on a concentrated look that shows she is thinking hard about the dare. She nibbles at her lips, mulling about it for a couple of minutes, until her expression settles in resolution.

"I dare you," she starts with a decisive finger pointing at Catra. "to kiss me."

A deadly silence falls around the bonfire.

Catra hears her own heart pulsing at her ears, as deafening as drums. 

"I don't think that's how it works," Bow says in a calculated voice, exchanging concerning looks with Glimmer.

But Catra doesn't pay him any attention, because Adora's gaze is still on her – unwavering, alive with cryptic feelings. Her expression is enticing, alluring her over and over again. _Daring_ her to do something.

"Fine," Catra declares.

Maybe it is the suppressed feelings coming to surface, maybe it is the alcohol giving her a burst of courage, whatever is the motive, she actually gets up and takes the steps that lead her to settle in front of Adora.

Her fingers almost shake when she cups Adora's face. She watches Adora's eyes flutter close when she leans in and presses her lips... to Adora's cheek.

"Done," she says, ready to keep up and move on from this ironic situation when fingers close around her wrist.

"Is that it?" Adora asks. And the _way_ she says, husky and raw and something else undefined, stirs something in Catra's chest.

There is a voice in her head, screaming at her to run, to hide, to protect herself. But, at that moment, she couldn't care less about anything but the girl in front of her.

Unable to resist the pull that attracts her to Adora any longer, Catra closes the distance between them.

She urges forward and Adora meets her halfway, their lips crashing in the most pleasant way. Her blood hums when Adora's arms encircle her neck, pulling her closer. Their lips move in hunger, as if they were both desperate for it – Catra is, but she is surprised to find Adora so responsive.

The pressure of her heart hurts against her ribcage. Everything aches and every is sweet – the way Adora's mouth moves against her, the way Adora shivers when Catra tongue's swipe against her bottom lip, the way Adora deepens the kiss with decisiveness. _Adora Adora Adora_. Catra's veins hum her name.

When Catra pulls back, Adora's mouth instinctively chase after hers for a second.

They're both unmade, both disordered, breaths mingled and eyes unfocused.

That's when Catra realized how fucked she is.

"Okaaaay," Bow drags the word and, to make the point even clearer, cleans his throat. Truth be told, Catra had forgotten they were still there. "So, it's Catra's turn to spin the bottle."

Feeling the dizziness in her head beginning to settle down in a state of complete and utter dread, Catra jerks up.

"I'm tired, I'll head to bed,” she manages to mutter before walking away as fast as she can without looking suspicious.

Even as she leaves, Catra can feel Adora's eyes on her back like a physical touch.

✧

Catra vanished.

Adora woke up with a violent headache and an uneasiness settled deep in her bones. When the memories from last night came back vividly to her, a numbing coldness left her frozen on bed.

Drunk Adora had fucked up real bad.

She got washed up and got changed all while mentally rehearsing a dozen different excuses for the dare. She had practically _begged_ for Catra to kiss her, then when she did Adora went and turned it into a full make-out session. There was no safe explanation to this. That's it, if Catra didn't guess Adora’s feelings by now. Adora didn’t know how she could face her after this.

Turns out she didn't have to.

Catra was nowhere to be seen. Adora looked through the whole house, but she wasn't there, then she went out to the beach, but she wasn't there either. At least her stuff was still in the room – Adora wouldn't be surprised if Catra had taken the first bus back to Bright Moon.

Adora considered texting her, but ended up staring at the picture of Catra on her lockscreen, her with the cat’s ear filter, for a solid ten minutes until her eyes filled up with tears. If Catra wanted distance, she had to respect that; there was no point in texting her if she was trying to avoid Adora.

"What if she is grossed out and annoyed and she hates me? Shit, what if she never wants to be my friend again?"

Bow pats her shoulder comfortingly. 

At the same time, Glimmer says. "Catra doesn't hate you, she's just being a coward.”

Adora's been at it for almost an hour, her friends had given her reassurance (and hangover soup), but she was not even near from stopping freaking out.

Bow sends her an encouraging smile. "Catra will come around. There's no use in thinking about the 'what if's now. Why don't we go on a walk?"

"I don't feel like going out," Adora whines.

"Come on, it might help get your head cleared out."

Adora is reluctant in leaving the house in the case Catra while she is gone, but she knows staying in and moping is not helping with anything, so she ends up agreeing.

They come across a local market and go through every stand, seeing paintings, clothes, necklaces made of shells, and many other handcrafts. Adora manages to smile a little with her friends, but is strained.

When they decide to watch the music performance happening in the central square, Adora chooses to stay behind.

She sits by the beach with her toes buried in the sand and watches the waves break in the shore. It’s silent except for the soothing sound of the waves, most of the people went to see the performance on the square, so the beach is almost empty. The sun is beginning to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.

Seeing the horizon painted in beauty, she wishes Catra was there to see it with her.

"Hey, Adora."

That voice, sounding tentative and hesitant, makes her jolt and turn around.

"Catra."

She stands there against the sun, her brown skin glowing and her short hair framing the unreadable expression on her face. Her mismatched eyes run through Adora's face quickly before darting away.

"I got Glimmer's text. Are you ok?"

The distance in her voice hurts Adora so badly that she takes a while to associate meaning to the words.

"What text?" she asks.

"Glimmer said you were feeling ill."

Adora supposed she must've had a talk with Glimmer later. She lets out a constraint laugh.

"I wasn't aware of that."

"Oh," Catra looks taken aback. Her eyes keep racing between Adora and the ocean. "Then I will just..." She makes a vague gesture and turns to leave.

Before she has a chance to think this through, her body seems to act without permission and her hand reaches for Catra's wrists.

"Please, wait..."

And Catra does. She awkwardly shifts on her foot, looking at anywhere but Adora’s direction. Adora would rather be fighting than this, at least then she would know what Catra was thinking.

She bites her lips, not quite sure what she wants to say or what she _should_ say to fix this distance that threatens their bond.

"So?" Catra presses and the time to think is over. Adora _has_ to say something. 

"It's ok if you're mad with me. I mean, I understand, I..." Adora takes a breath. "I'm _sorry_ , Catra. I was drunk and I know this is no excuse and I should never have forced myself on you, even if it was a game, and I am so so–”

"Hold on," Catra interrupts her rambling.

Catra's expression is a mixture of confusion, impatience, and a light of hope. Adora doesn't know what to make out of it. She holds her breath, waiting for Catra to lash out on her.

"You didn't ‘force’ yourself in me," she snickers. "I was pretty much the one who initiated the kiss.”

Adora blinks in surprise. "But because I dared you to."

"But you were drunk and didn't know what you were saying, so it was my fault."

"I was very much aware of what I wanted," Adora counters defensively. She wanted that for so long and, even though it was a poorly timed decision, it wasn't just because she was drunk.

Catra watches her carefully, everything in her stance, from her squared shoulders to the crease in her brows, showing how tense she is.

"So you don't regret it?" she says quietly, so untypically quietly for her that Adora realizes that Catra looks just as scared as she is.

Her stomach churns when she lifts her eyes to meet Catra's gaze full-on, wanting her to _see_ , to actually see the certainty in her eyes. 

"I'd never regret kissing you, Catra."

Everything in Catra's position shifts. A series of expressions travel through her face – fear, disbelief, understanding, frenzy –, but it settles on an expression soft like she has never seen before on her. It is so encouraging that Adora feels brave enough to say something more:

"And I'd like to do it again, if you’d let me."

Her heart is leaping up and down her throat so fast that she thinks it may actually run out if Catra doesn't say anything soon.

Catra just looks at her, long and hard with that same soft expression for what feels like hours. Her lips curl in a sheepish smile.

Then, finally, _finally_ , she steps into Adora's space.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she says and touches her forehead to Adora's.

Adora's heart soars. 

Their noses brush when she says, "Really?"

Catra rolls her eyes, but is full of endearment.

"You're such an idiot."

And then they are kissing.

It starts way more chaste than before. Just the tender sensation of their slightly parted lips pressed together. Adora feels Catra letting out a shuddering breath when she buries her fingers in her hair and presses harder, deepening the kiss. Adora almost liquefies completely.

When they part, Adora knows this time Catra won't run away, still she doesn't resist the impulse to pull her on a hug, keeping their chests connected. 

"Have you any idea how long I wanted this?" she says.

"Not as long as I have."

Adora pulls back. "No, I'm pretty sure I've liked you the longest."

"No way, that was me."

They stare at each other for a moment before bursting in laughter.

"Are we really arguing about this?" 

Catra shrugs and takes Adora's hand on hers. "Maybe that's our thing."

Adora pecks at her lips again.

"No, _this_ is our new thing."

An unabashed smile blooms on Catra's face.

"I can get used to that."

✧

The sky was dotted with drops of light coming from the stars. They were lying side by side on the sand, fingers intertwined between them, enjoying the last night on the beach. 

Catra leans on one elbow and touches her mouth to Adora's ear to whisper:

"There's sand even up to my ass."

Adora punches Catra's shoulder.

"Way to ruin the mood," she complains.

Catra wiggles her eyebrows.

"I haven't realized there was a mood," she teases.

Adora groans and throws her hands over her face. "Why do I even like you?"

That's the question Catra has been wondering for the past few days. Sometimes she wondered if this whole trip was just an insanely vivid hallucination and she would wake up to realize this new relationship with Adora was just a product from her imagination.

But here she was, solid and real and under her reach. Better than her imagination could conceive.

Catra puts a hand on Adora's face and she goes pliant under her touch, waiting with an eager expression. It's her favorite look on Adora yet. She leans on top of her and Adora reaches for her, pulls her in. They kiss gently and tender, hurriedly and fierce – like fighting, like loving, like meeting again after a long time.

They lie down, Catra's head cushioned on Adora's stretched arm as she points at the stars and makes up constellations names, just for Adora to point out the real constellations because of course she knows that. And they wrestle, and they kiss a little more, and they laugh, and they smile stupidly at each other.

"Hey, Catra, I want to ask you something."

Catra is tracing the freckles on Adora's shoulder with the tip of her fingers. Her skin got all golden and freckled with the sun and she smelled like coconut body wash most of the time. Catra found out she really likes to bury her face on the crook of Adora’s neck and drown on her scent.

"Yeah?" she asks distractedly. 

"Do you wanna share an apartment with me when we get back to uni?"

Catra halts. She raises an eyebrow.

"Are you already asking me to move in?"

Adora's cheeks grow pink.

"It's not like that!" she says quickly. "Glimmer is planning to move in with Bow and I don't want to be all by myself in the dorms, or end up with a creepy roommate, so I thought we could share the rent of an apartment since Scorpia recently moved out too. Unless you already have other plans... or you don't _want_ too, which would be fi–"

Catra cuts her in with a kiss. She recently found out this is a great method to shut her up.

"Ok, let's do this."

Adora beams.

"You know you won't get rid of me easily after this, right?"

Catra reflects her smile. 

"I'm not planning to."

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading.


End file.
